Book Reviews and Other Literary Delights

Novel

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for providing me with a copy of Jessica Strawser’s novel, Not That I Could Tell,in exchange for an honest review.

PLOT– Yellow Springs, an idyllic suburb in Ohio, is rocked to its core when Kristen and her two young twins, go missing. Kristen is in the middle of a divorce and her soon-to-be ex-husband, Paul, is devastated by their disappearance. He had been living in an apartment, but he moves back into the house that he shared with Kristen during the investigation. Not everyone in the neighborhood is convinced that Paul, a respected doctor, is as innocent as he appears. The neighbors try to figure out what has happened to their dear friend. Can the police or Kristen’s friends solve the mystery before something else goes wrong?

LIKE– I loved Desperate Housewives and although Not That I Could Tell is quite a bit more serious, it had shades of the show. In particular, it had similarities with the various personalities in the neighborhood and mystery element of the story. Also, how sprinkled throughout the novel are short chapters written by Kristen, which reminded me of Desperate Housewives narrator, Mary Alice.

I liked the mystery elements of the story. Strawser does a great job at building the suspense, especially when she builds to the climatic moment in the story. I was gripped and glued to the page.

I loved the character of Hallie, a neighborhood pre-teen, who takes it upon herself to be a amateur sleuth. I wasn’t quite sure how her story arc would play-out and it was a wonderful surprise. She adds a lot of conflict to the story, sending it in a wild direction.

The magic in Not That I Could Tell is in the friendships between the women. Strawser has vividly imagined her neighborhood and its inhabitants. I appreciate that she included Izzy, a single woman without children. Izzy is in a different place in her life, but she easily finds friendship with her neighbors. Not That I Could Tell celebrates all types of families and relationships.

DISLIKE– The ultimate outcome of the story was predictable. I appreciate that Strawser tackles a difficult and sensitive subject matter with care, but I was hoping for a more unexpected ending. I think with the way that Strawser peppered the narrative with Kristen’s chapters, I was hoping for a Gone Girl-esque twist that never arrived.

RECOMMEND– Yes! Not That I Could Tellis a solid page-turn that speaks to an important issue. You’ll love the neighborhood and friendships that Strawser has created.

Thank you to Doubleday Booksfor providing me with a copy of Rebecca Harrington’s novel, Sociable, in exchange for an honest review.

PLOT– Journalist Elinor Tomlinson is devastated when her boyfriend and fellow journalist, Mike, breaks up with her. They had been dating for four years and the break-up seems to have come from out of the blue. Elinor suspects that Mike was cheating on her with his colleague, Andrea, but no matter how much she dives into Mike’s social media, she cannot get concrete proof. In the months after the break-up, Elinor starts working at a company called Journalism.ly, where she has a knack for writing articles that go viral on social media. She starts figuring out life on her own with a new apartment and jumping back into the dating scene, but Mike is never far from her mind. Will Elinor ever understand her breakup or will she just drive herself crazy by using social media to relay to Mike that her life is fine without him?

LIKE– One of the best part of Sociableis the commentary on how men treat women in the workplace. Elinor is a talented journalist, yet the men in her life use subtle tactics to undermine her efforts. When she is dating Mike, his career and talents always shine above hers. The ending of the story has a nice nod to Elinor realizing that she is just as talented and worthy. Her superiors at Journalism.ly, are male and they constantly belittle her. One guy, who is her age and whom she went to college with, feels that he can serve as her mentor, because he has been at the company a few months longer. It’s insidious and the worst part is the men clearly don’t even realize what they are doing. It’s simply the way things between men and women have always been. I certainly recognized the behavior from my own experiences in the work place. Men can be very patronizing, even when they are the “good guys.”

Speaking of the men in Sociable; they come across as very flat characters, especially Elinor’s co-workers. When I finished the novel, I felt disappointed, especially with Peter, a coworker whom it seems might have a crush on Elinor, but where the storyline never develops. However, after giving it some thought, I’ve concluded that the point of Sociableis that Elinor allows her fixation on Mike to get in the way of her goals. The point is for Elinor to come into her own and realize that she is worthy outside of having a relationship or validation from social media. It was a little odd that so much of the Peter situation was developed without a pay-off, but the ultimate pay-off was Elinor’s self-realization.

And Elinor, oh Elinor…she’s a mess. It’s not a requirement to have a likable protagonist, but I have to confess that I wish that I had been able to like Elinor a bit more. She reminded me of a character from Lena Dunham’s series, Girls. Elinor is self-involved, not particularly nice to her friends, and neurotic. She is full of contradictions and is rather unpleasant. I felt that her situation was highly relatable, but I found myself rooting for her to succeed in her situation, not her as a person. That said, I found Sociableto be a compulsive read that I didn’t want to put down. I was locked-in and finished it in one afternoon.

I also want to mention that the same day that I sat down to read Sociable, my husband and I had a discussion about Facebook and the fake realities that people create for themselves or how they post things on social media just for attention. I found this to be very timely with regard to my reading of Sociable, especially how Elinor works hard to cultivate a perfect social media presence. In several scenes, Elinor is at party or a mixer, and she is on her phone (as are others) ignoring real social interactions, while favoring documenting a false version of the situation on their social media accounts. It’s stomach turning, because it’s what’s happening in real life all of the time. Reading Sociablehas made me step back from my own social media usage.

DISLIKE– Besides wishing that I had liked Elinor, I found it odd that the story occasionally broke the fourth wall, addressing the reader directly. It was infrequent enough to be a quirk that I found unnecessary and distracting. It always pulled me out of the story.

RECOMMEND– Yes. Sociableis a quick read that stuck in my mind for several days after I finished reading it. It reminded me so much of Girls, that I recommend it to fans of the show. Harrington is a solid writer and this is a on-point topic.

Thank you to Penguin Group Blue Rider Press for providing me with a copy of Sarah Sparrow’s novel, A Guide for Murdered Children, in exchange for an honest review.

PLOT-Willow Wade is a recovering alcoholic and former cop trying to get his life back together. His friend and current husband to Wade’s ex-wife, convinces him to take a job in a cold-case unit in Detroit. Wade, who has psychic abilities, soon realizes that something very unusual is happening with regard to the cold cases of children who have been murdered. The murdered children are coming back for revenge.

LIKE– A Guide for Murdered Childrenis oozing with creativity and different from any novel that I’ve previously read. I love the concept that Sparrow has created: murdered children are able to live again through the bodies of recently deceased adults, adults who have died in a manner where no one else knows that they have died. For example, a woman is jogging and collapses, but she rises from the dead to resume her life with this murdered child inside of her and no one else knows. The murdered child must work with the newly dead adult to exact revenge on the child’s murderer before either body can have peace.

When the child takes over the adult’s body, the adult’s behavior changes. If the adult had been in a relationship, they are now no longer interested in being intimate with their partner. To the child inside of them, they can’t grasp sexual intimacy. It’s gross! The child may cause them to eat funny, such as one character who begins to favor gummy bears. I loved this creative element, where the adult and child are in equal shares trying to live through this one body. There is a poignant moment where it is mentioned that the children will experience sensations through the adult body, that they never had a chance to live long enough to do.

I love the concept of having the children meet at an AA type meeting, where they are guided through the process of being inside an adult and their goal of finding their murder. There were many plots twists that I did not anticipate. I don’t normally take issue with scary stories, but I found myself unable to read A Guide for Murdered Children, when I was home alone. It’s rather disturbing and unsettling. Even writing this review now (while I’m home alone at night) is giving me the chills.

DISLIKE– There were times where I couldn’t keep track of the large volume of characters and subplots. It made it a story that was an effort to read, rather than one that I could get lost inside. A Guide for Murdered Children has a lot going on and I’m not sure that it is all necessary. The pacing is uneven, sometimes breakneck speed and other times very sluggish.

RECOMMEND– Yes. A Guide for Murdered Childrenis likely going to be very unique from any story that you’ve previously read and Sparrow’s abundance of creativity shines above the pacing problems. This is a great pick for people who enjoy detective stories and don’t mind if it’s on the unsettling, creepy side.

Thank you to Gallery Books for providing me with a copy of Jacob M. Appel’s novel, Millard Salter’s Last Day, in exchange for an honest review.

PLOT- Psychiatrist Millard Salter has decided to kill himself. The love of his life has recently died after an illness and he fears the idea of growing old with the possibility of having a disease or needing assistance. He feels that he has lived enough life and plans to hang himself, while things are still good. With this plan in mind, he spends his last couple of days tying up loose ends. He tries to wrap things up at work and visits with his ex-wife and adult children. He soon learns that leaving might not be as easy as he had anticipated.

LIKE- It took me time to get into the pacing and rhythm of Millard Salter’s Last Day, but as soon as I did (last third of the story,) I felt swept away. Appel has created a complicated protagonist in Salter and I felt the weight of his worries and sorrows. Through his characters, Appel makes a strong argument for the need to have assisted suicide and speaks to the trauma of watching a loved one battle through a terminal disease. Salter helps a loved on with assisted suicide, which is described in detail.

Although Salter is a lauded psychiatrist, his fears and depression create a situation where he justifies ending his life. I suppose the argument could be made that people should have the freedom to live their lives ( or end their lives) as they see fit, at any stage, but I felt the overriding theme of Millard Salter’s Last Day is that Salter’s life should not end. His judgement is clouded. The worst of it, is none of the other doctor’s at the hospital where he works, even notice that something is wrong. They are too busy trying to get ahead in their careers and dealing with office politics. Salter’s family doesn’t notice either. It’s a sad and unfortunate situation all around, a commentary on how isolated people can feel and how blind we can all be to the suffering of others.

DISLIKE– Millard Salter’s Last Day is pitched as a book similar to Frederik Backman’s novel, A Man Called Ove. They deal with similar themes; like Salter, Ove is hell-bent on killing himself and finds the leaving process to be more difficult than anticipated. However, that’s where the similarities end. Backman’s novel has humor and light to breakup the heavy theme. Ove undergoes a huge transformation, where as Salter stays the same. Salter’s weak story arc, my primary issue with the story.

I had compassion for Salter, but I found him to be a difficult character to stay with for an entire novel. I couldn’t read Millard Salter’s Last Day, without reading several other books at the same time. As such, it took me over a month to read, when it should have taken a day or two. As I mentioned previously, it didn’t grab me until the last third, the first two-thirds were sluggish.

RECOMMEND– Probably not. Millard Salter’s Last Day is heavy. Salter is a solid character, but he doesn’t have a solid story.

Thank you to NetGalley and author Helen Jones for providing me with a copy of A Thousand Rooms in exchange for an honest review.

PLOT- Katie has just died and she finds herself at the scene of her death without anyone to greet her or further instructions. When she thinks of something, such as the store where she purchased the snazzy new red heels that she was wearing when a car hit her, she is transported to that place. Katie begins to get the hang of transporting herself and travels to see her family and friends as they deal with her death, but she is still left wondering, if this is all there is?

Katie get an idea to travel to a convalescent hospital to be near another human when they die and she discovers that the afterlife is different for everyone. Katie learns that she can travel to different afterlife realms and soon she is gathering pieces of the puzzle to understand the meaning of her own death.

LIKE– Jones fills A Thousand Rooms with so much creativity that I kept turning the page to see what was coming next. I couldn’t anticipate where Jones was taking her story, which kept it compelling. She weaves folklore and concepts from various religions into the different rooms/realms that Katie visits. I love the idea that the afterlife can be such an individualized experience. One of my favorite small twists is when Katie thinks she is witnessing a death, but it turns out to be a conception. It’s a joyful moment. Also joyful, are the scenes when Katie is reconnecting with her grandfather in their heaven. It’s a wonderful balance after the somber scenes of Katie watching her family on earth grieving.

DISLIKE– Katie felt flat. I could easily go along with her story because it was so unexpected, but I had difficulty both imagining her physically and going along with her emotional journey. When I felt emotion, it was situational, rather than because I was connected to the protagonist. For example, having experienced profound grief, I felt emotions while reading about her parents and friends in grief, but not for the loss of Katie specifically. When Katie connects with Jason, I didn’t feel the emotions. I like the concept of their relationship and how they are kept apart, but I didn’t bond with either character.

RECOMMEND– Maybe. A Thousand Rooms is a quick read and I liked the concept of Jones’ story. My lack of connection to the characters hold me back from fully recommending A Thousand Rooms.

Thank you to Holt Paperbacks for providing me with a free copy of Lauren Berry’s novel, Living the Dream, in exchange for an honest review.

PLOT– Emma works for a marketing firm in London, but dreams of finding success as a writer. She’s miserable at her day job, but has a decent following on her blog and keeps pitching article ideas to various trendy magazines. Emma struggles with her desire to quit her day job to chase her dreams against the reality of having a stable income. Adding to her frustrations is her roommate, a DJ who seems to squeak by, despite not having an “adult career.”

Emma’s best friend, Clementine, has just finished a prestigious screenwriting course in America and has returned to England with the idea that her big break is just around the corner. In the meantime, she is completely broke and forced to move in with her family, who do not understand her creative aspirations.

Pitched as a Bridget Jones’s Diary for millennials, Living The Dream follows post-college age friends as they struggle to chase their dreams, find romantic partners, and make ends meet in London.

LIKE– Living the Dream reminded me of Lena Dunham’s series, Girls, except the characters in Berry’s story were less self-involved and far more likable. Emma and Clementine generally had a supportive friendship, one that can weather rough patches. They are both characters that I liked and rooted for to succeed.

Berry gives equal weight to both Emma and Clementine’s stories, making them dual protagonists. However, there is a third friend added to the mix, Yasmin. Yasmin is their high-maintenance, drama-filled friend who is about to marry a wealthy man. At first Yasmin proves to be a difficult character to like, but by the end of the story, as some of her secrets and motives become clear, I totally adored her. It made me think of the somewhat difficult friends that I’ve had in my life and it’s a gentle reminder to be a little understanding and not to rush to judgement.

I’m forty, a touch older than the target audience for Living the Dream, nevertheless less, it transported me back to that time in my life. Berry may be writing for the millennials, but this is a story that should ring true for older women too. The struggles at that stage of a woman’s life is will resonate with older generations. Frankly, it makes me happy to be older and hopefully, wiser! The twenties are a stressful decade.

I love novels set in England, especially London. Although the characters are struggling, London is still a glamorous location.

DISLIKE– I enjoyed Living the Dream and Barry is a strong writer, but I don’t think in the grand scheme of my yearly reading that this will be memorable. It was a quick, enjoyable read, but not a stand-out.

RECOMMEND– Maybe. Living the Dream would be a good pick for a woman in her twenties who is struggling to figure out her direction in life. It can feel like you’re the only one with problems and Living the Dream is a good reminder that everyone facing similar issues.

Thank you to She Writes Press for providing me with an advance copy of L.B. Gschwandtner’s novel, The Other New Girl, in exchange for an honest review.

PLOT– Susannah Greenwood is one of two girls starting at a Quaker boarding school in their sophomore year. Susannah joins the swim team and is quickly accepted by the popular group of girls. The other new girl, Moll, doesn’t have an easy time. She quiet and simply different than the other students. Susannah tries to befriend Moll, but a series of events leads to disaster.

LIKE- I’ve always been drawn to stories that take place in boarding schools. I didn’t attend a boarding school and I didn’t even go to summer camp, so the idea of kids living away from their parents is somewhat romanticized in my mind. Additionally, I’m drawn to stories about religion. I didn’t know much about the Quaker faith and I found that aspect of Gschwandtner’s novel to be fascinating. In fact, I wish she had dove deeper into it.

The Other New Girl is written from the perspective of an adult Susannah who runs into an old classmate which sends her down the rabbit hole of reflecting on a terrible thing that happened in high school. There are themes of guilt and regret. The teenage Susannah is placed in an incredibly difficult position and she is shaken to the core by what happens around her, things that were set into motion by her and that quickly spiral out of control. The Other New Girl is about the domino affect of actions and how your life can be impacted negatively, even when you have the best intentions.

DISLIKE– I found it difficult to connect with Susannah. I can’t pinpoint it, but there was something about Gschwandtner’s writing that made me feel distant from the protagonist. Although I found the story compelling, this lack of connection with Susannah hampered my ability to emotionally connect with The Other New Girl.

I recently read an article ( unfortunately, I can’t remember the source, but it was in one of my writing magazines) that mentioned the 1960’s as being an over-used era for coming of age novels. The Other New Girl takes place in the late 50’s/early 60’s and it does have many of the cliche historical/social references of the era. If I hadn’t read this article, I probably wouldn’t have thought about it one way or the other, but since I did, I wondered how different and perhaps more potent this story would have been, had it been set in a different era?

RECOMMEND– Maybe. Although I couldn’t connect with the protagonist, I still was compelled to read The Other New Girl. It’s a quick read and Gschwandtner hit on subjects that interested me. Also, I did a quick scan of reviews and other readers are loving this book. I think I’m an outlier with my dislikes.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group for providing me with an advance copy of Zoe Whittall’s novel, The Best Kind of People, in exchange for an honest review.

PLOT – Avalon Hills, an affluent suburb in Connecticut, is rocked when beloved high school teacher George Woodbury is accused of sexual misconduct with several students. While George is in prison awaiting trial, his family must deal with the fallout. They find themselves unsure of his innocence, yet in the position of defending him and themselves, against a very angry town.

LIKE-The Best Kind of People isn’t so much about George or his trial; it’s about how his family experiences the trauma of having a loved one accused. It’s about how they process whether or not to believe him and what that means for their family moving forward. This is not a crime or legal novel, this is a family drama.

When a tragedy or crime happens, I do always wonder about the families of the accused. Depending on the crime, it sometimes seems like they are automatically judged as guilty alongside the actual accused. Joan, George’s wife, experiences this when people in town don’t understand how she could have been unaware of her husband’s transgressions. Joan works as a nurse and is highly regarded by her colleagues and patients, yet she feels that she has to take a leave of absence from her job and hide from the people in her town, as they harass her; throwing eggs at her car and leave threatening messages on her answering machine. When she does build up the courage to return to work, she has support from some of her colleagues, but gets the cold shoulder from others. She is guilty by association.

Also guilty by association are George’s children. His daughter, Sadie, still attends the high school where her father taught and is forced to interact with the girls who have accused her father of misconduct. His son Andrew, is now a lawyer living in New York, but he finds that small town gossip from the past comes back to haunt him. As far as the town and the media are concerned, the entire Woodbury family is fair game. Adding to the drama is Kevin, who is dating the mom of Sadie’s boyfriend. Kevin is a novelist who hasn’t had a hit in over a decade and he decides to use his proximity to the Woodbury family to cash-in by using their story as the basis for his latest manuscript.

Whittall has a talent for create fascinating characters who react in diverse ways to adversity. I like how she focused her story on the family members, rather than George or his legal problem. Her characters each react in surprising, yet organic ways that make for a compelling read. Although many readers have probably not been in this specific situation ( I hope not), I think most people will find areas to which they can relate. If not, I think this story will make readers more compassionate, especially when it’s so easy to engage in gossip or judgement.

I didn’t know much about the story going in and I actually thought I was reading a true story for the first few chapters. It felt real, rather than fiction. I was engaged immediately.

DISLIKE– I’m still contemplating the ending. I don’t want to give anything away, but I expect that I’m not the only reader that will have trouble with the ending. I think it’s probably very realistic, but it’s also incredibly frustrating. I actually gave a rather mournful “NO!” outloud when I read the last line.

In general, The Best Kind of People is a very heavy read. This isn’t a negative, it is what it needs to be for the story, but I also felt that it affected me personally. I found myself feeling low energy and negative on the days I was reading The Best Kind of People. Whittall’s writing and story had a noticeable affect on me.

RECOMMEND– Yes. The Best Kind of People is a shocking and affecting story. Whittall has crafted emotionally rich characters that are placed in a desperate situation. I will not soon forget this story.

Thank you to AmazonCrossing for providing me with an advance copy of Marc Levy’s latest novel, P.S. From Paris, in exchange for an honest review.

PLOT – Mia is a British actress whose latest film is about to be released. Her husband, who also happens to be her co-star, has been caught cheating and Mia runs away to Paris to stay with her friend Daisy; a chef and restaurant owner. In efforts to keep a low profile, Mia changes her hairstyle and helps out as a server in Daisy’s restaurant.

Paul is an American fiction writer living in Paris. His novels have inexplicably seen a great success in South Korea. Paul has a relationship with his Korean translator and although he loves her, she has grown distant. Paul has a fear of traveling and only sees her for a few weeks a year, when she comes to work on his novels in Paris.

Paul and Mia meet through an internet dating site. Mia has taken on Daisy’s identity and Paul is unaware that she is a famous actress. Paul’s life becomes very complicated when the reason for his success in South Korea is revealed. Are Paul and Mia a good match or will their messy lives be their undoing?

LIKE– This is my first encounter with Levy’s writing, although I’ve since learned that he is a extremely successful and prolific French novelist. This is great news, because I throughly enjoyed P.S. From Paris.

P.S. From Paris is dialogue heavy and felt very cinematic. It was effortless to see this novel being turned into a film or perhaps even a stage play. The dialogue is sharp, witty, and affecting. Levy has a gift for achieving maximum emotional impact with zero extraneous words.

There is a sweetness to the relationship between Mia and Paul, which never dips into being overly sentimental or saccharine. I loved both characters and was wholly invested in them as both individuals and as a couple. My feelings towards them, are similar to ones I have with the great romantic comedy pairing of Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks in both Sleepless in Seattle and You’ve Got Mail. I simply adored the characters. I had a smile on my face as I was reading.

I loved the twist with Paul’s success in South Korea. It was such a surprise.

DISLIKE– I wondered why Daisy put up with so much of Mia’s rude behavior? Mia is quite terrible to her friend. I guess the answer is that they have such a close relationship that it is able to weather Mia’s self-centered antics. However, this still doesn’t sit well. I wish this component of the story had been smoothed out more. I loved what Mia was around Paul, but disliked her when she was interacting with Daisy.

RECOMMEND- Yes. P.S. From Paris is an engaging and lovely story. It’s a feel good novel. I can’t wait to read more stories by Levy. I’m thrilled to have discovered him.

Thank you to Scribner for providing me with an advance copy of Tom Perrotta’s novel, Mrs. Fletcher, in exchange for an honest review.

PLOT– With her only child off to college, divorced mom Eve Fletcher is finding herself at a transition. She is in her mid-forties and works as a director for a senior center, but she yearns for something more. To broaden her horizons, Eve signs up for a gender studies class at the local community college and befriends the professor, who happens to be transgendered. Eve begins to reevaluate her own sexuality, including exploring pornography and flirting with both her female employee and a young man who went to high school with Eve’s son. Eve isn’t quite sure what she wants, but she is opening herself up to possibilities.

On the flip side, we have Eve’s cocky, jock son, Brendan, who is feeling the uncertainty of college. He quickly learns that what made him popular in high school isn’t working in college. Eve is embracing her change, but Brendan is fighting against the inevitable.

LIKE– Tom Perrotta is one of my favorite contemporary authors. I’ve read all of his previous books and I was absolutely thrilled to be granted an advance copy of Mrs. Fletcher. It’s not an exaggeration to say that this was the 2017 release that I was most anticipating.

I love Perrotta’s complex characters, unexpected plots, and wicked sense of humor. He has a way of making unlikable characters very relatable. Mrs. Fletcher is told primarily in close-third person as it shifts focus between different characters, with the one exception being Brendan. Brendan’s POV is told in first person.

I considered why Perrotta chose this and I think it’s because Brendan is the character that under-goes the biggest transformation. Although Eve arguably experiences great changes, she is a willing participant and none of her changes are out of character. Brendan doesn’t even appear to realize that he needs to change. Early in the story, Eve overhears Brendan having sex with his girlfriend and although she is not shocked by the actions, she is appalled to hear Brendan making crude and misogynistic statements. Even though Eve is upset, she does not confront her son. Brendan is used to living a life where both his male and white privileged allow him to get away with terrible behavior. Until he heads to college, he has never been held accountable, and when finally confronted, Brendan’s world comes crashing down. I think Perrotta allows the reader directly into Brendan’s brain to make him less of a caricature and slightly more sympathetic when he begins to realize that he is in the wrong. Let’s face it, it’s hard to have sympathy for an obnoxious kid skating by on his privilege, but I found Eve’s lack of confronting her son to be just a big of a transgression. She allows Brendan’s behavior because confrontation would have made her uncomfortable. But if you were Eve, would you have said something? It’s this type of complexity that draws me to Perrotta’s stories. Perrotta allows the readers to climb into the character’s shoes and there are never easy solutions.

DISLIKE– Not a single thing. I’m a Perrotta fan-girl!

RECOMMEND– Yes!!! Admittedly, Mrs. Fletcher is not my favorite Perrotta novel, but it was still fabulous. If you’ve not read Perrotta, I’d direct your attention towards Election, if you prefer comedy, and Little Children if you want a drama. I’ve enjoyed all of his novels and short stories. Truly with Perrotta, you can’t go wrong!